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Exclusive: Life On The Sideline EP announcement, music video premiere

Since releasing Honesty Is A Dying Breed two years ago, Life On The Sideline has remained active on the road and is now ready to unveil its upcoming EP, Never Settle. To kick things off, we're premiering the music video for the band's new single, "Echo", which tells the sad story of a young girl reminiscing times spent with her deceased partner. While not a pop punk song per se, it's as catchy as one with an infectious chorus that you'll inevitably get stuck in your head. The band's sound could be compared to that of Transit's and The Early November's. Fans can pre-order the EP on iTunes and CD here, before it's released on June 7th. […]

Thursday, January 17, 2013

Review: Molly's Worst Enemy - "You'll Never Walk Alone" EP

Release InfoMolly's Worst Enemy - You'll Never Walk Alone EP
Release Date: January 18th, 2013
Record Label: Self-released
Pre-order: N/A

Molly’s Worst Enemy not only have one of the greatest band names ever but have the music to back it up. The Minnesotan Pop-Punk outfit released their first EP, Don’t Take This Personally, in 2011 when they were mostly still in high school, yet that didn’t stop them from crafting head-turning music. Now MWE have upped the ante by crafting anthem after anthem and making music that more often than not stands out among a sea of Pop-Punkster bro-dudes.

Intro starts off the EP on a familiar, spacey note with a bass-heavy sound that slowly draws the listener into the ever-subject-changing refrain of “You’re on your own, but you’re not alone, / And as your brother, I assure you, your heart is your home. / So at the end of the day, when you feel lost and astray, / Know you still have somewhere to go”. It’s a nice sentiment, but not an extremely different one that seems to set the following five tracks up for this EP to fall by the wayside.

Sure Thing, Go South doesn’t change that trend. The familiar one-two, snare-bass drumbeat leads the up-tempo number. Once again, the rhythm guitar has to fight to be heard up against the enormous bass guitar. While that’s not a fault of MWE, it doesn’t help their case in making Sure Thing, Go South stand out for the minute and forty-five seconds it plays.

With Tunnel Vision comes a breath of fresh air to You’ll Never Walk Alone. The song’s intro holds back and builds instrument by instrument to build something different. Tunnel Vision is definitely a foot-tapper and an anthem for those who don’t feel like they have a home or fit in anywhere. It’s not difficult to imagine the crowd-surfers for this one. The song’s tempo is perfect for MWE at not being too fast or too slow. Tunnel Vision gives a light at the end of the (pun intended) tunnel for You’ll Never Walk Alone.

Frostbite combines the speed of Sure Thing, Go South and the restraint and musicianship of Tunnel Vision to create another song for kids to scream in dank, dark basements. Overgrown follows and sounds like the cousin of a Dangerous Summer track, which is most certainly not a bad thing. The verses of the song are what stands out most in how MWE gets into a fantastic groove between bassist Devin Aadland’s lines and drummer Paul Winkelman’s accents that show a more experimental side to the young band.

The closer to the majority of Pop-Punk EPs released nowadays are fast, epic-sounding tracks that have gang vocals, hook-laden riffs, and the overall message of the EP. The eponymous closer has everything one would expect here. Nothing crazy is added to mixture on a musical level, but the way the aforementioned refrain changes from “I” to “you” to “we” in the choruses of You’ll Never Walk Alone is something to be commended for. It won’t hit home after the first listen, if one returns to this EP multiple times, hearing this song go from a personal to a collective standpoint is comforting. The idea is nothing new, but the method by which it is conveyed is different, and it is that notion that MWE needs to learn and apply for the future.

Tracklist:
1. Intro
2. Sure Thing, Go South
3. Tunnel Vision
4. Frostbite
5. Overgrown
6. You'll Never Walk Alone

Rating:
Written by Joe Wasserman

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